My Everest Story
THE BEGINNING
As I begin packing for my expedition, many thoughts stampede my mind. Although I know deep down to my bones I’m physically ready, I cannot stop thinking about the conditioning Everest requires. That mountain is a graveyard. It is a perilous, sub-zero region where dead bodies are littered about like nobody’s business. If I’m going to summit, I’m going to have to step over those carcasses, frozen in time, forgotten by the world, left to crumble in the snow of the gargantuan goliath that Everest is. I could become one of those.
…but I push those thoughts back. All through these years I have prepared really hard to scale Everest; I know I’m ready – physically, and mentally. I’m positive those frozen, arctic corpses won’t scare me. I have withstood worse mental trauma living here in the comfort and provision of the plains. The people around me have doubted me in and out from the very moment they knew what I wanted. They have doubted me, questioned me, tried to stop me; and when all of this didn’t work, they tried to convince my family to stop me.
Yet, here I am, packing for my expedition, my dream, my goal, now within my reach. There is only one way to tell the people who doubt me that I’m capable – to SHOW them that I am, and I CAN. When they hear the big news they’ll know. I have my eyes on the summit and my mind set on getting there. So I pack and focus only on what I need to do for this mission to be a success.
On April the 2nd, 2019, I set out from Bhopal to Delhi in a train, from where I would then fly to Kathmandu.
All my family has gathered around me to wish me the best, and I’m feeling very emotional standing here at the railway station. All my efforts, in some way or the other, have been their efforts as well. As I board the train, I wave to them, and in my heart I thank them for standing by my side.
The next day, on April the 3rd, I board my flight to Kathmandu. The only thing I’m thinking about is preparing flawlessly for this expedition; I have no room for error here. With my team, I roam the markets of Kathmandu to purchase the equipment I would need for the climb, like down suits and climbing gear. I also purchase a SIM card to stay in touch with my family.
We stay in Kathmandu for a couple of days and gather the gear we would need. My trek to Lukla is to begin on April the 6th; I check and double-check my gear and equipment. I ensure that everything that I CAN control is under control…but the stars don’t yet align with my intentions. On the day of the flight, the weather goes south on me and the flight is cancelled.
With no intention of waiting, I decide to charter a helicopter, and we land in Lukla on schedule.